Alright,

So I am building an older PC for old school gaming and I am looking for a good graphics card.

So far the criteria is:

- PCI Card (no AGP of course - not going as slow as VLB or ISA)
- Easy driver support for:
Windows 3.1, OS/2 Warp, Windows NT 3.51, Windows 95 (early Direct X), DOS (UniVBE/VESA)

- Easy to find (eBay, or if someone happens to have one)

Based on this, I have found the following cards:

- S3 ViRGE 325, GX and DX
http://www.s3graphics.com/en/resources/drivers/legacy/software_archive.jsp

- Diamond Viper SE and Pro (although there are not many on eBay)
http://www.diamondmm.com/driversbefore912003.php

- Matrox Millennium & Millennium II
http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/latest/prev_latest.cfm

I am leaning more towards the Matrox card honestly. It seems to have the best level of drivers and support for the older OSes in the list plus strong performance.

Any thoughts?

[Edited on April 30, 2006 at 2:40 PM. Reason : +]

4/30/2006 2:37:07 PM

I remember S3's needing patches on certain games (IIRC The 11th Hour was one of them).

I've got a Voodoo3 in my DOS box at the moment ... runs everything nicely. Not sure what its support is for the other operating systems.

4/30/2006 3:24:25 PM

Get a Matrox Millennium + Voodoo card

That's what I had back in the day, and it kicked ass

4/30/2006 3:31:33 PM

Quote :

"I remember S3's needing patches on certain games (IIRC The 11th Hour was one of them)."

Ohhh yeah, I just remembered that! Thanks!

The 11th Hour is actually on my list of games I want to play again. Back in the day I had an S3 Treo card that needed a modified version of the game engine. With the VESA drivers it could not keep up.

Quote :

"Get a Matrox Millennium + Voodoo card"

The Matrox card is looking more appealing. I thought about the Voodoos but I am not sure about the compatibility either. I know for a fact that the early Millennium cards will support WIN31, NT351, OS2 and such. If the Voodoo would too it would be worth a look.

4/30/2006 3:35:49 PM

You've gotta have a Voodoo in a vintage gaming rig, there are quite a few older games where 3dfx acceleration is either the only option or the only native option for acceleration.

4/30/2006 4:33:50 PM

^ I can't seem to find Windows 3.1-era drivers for it, which is a must.

I think the Voodoo might be a little bit "too new" for what I am looking for.

4/30/2006 4:48:17 PM

i have some vintage pci cards, some of the more leet cards circa mid 90's that have are the following:

Diamond S3 ViRGE/VX w/ Stealth 3D 3000 (has daughtercard with extra memory), 1996
Matrox MGA (w/ memory expansion daughtercard), 1995/6
ATI Mach64, 1994
Jaton Trident ProVidia9685, 1996
TNT2 16MB

Let me know if any of those interest you.

5/1/2006 1:34:25 AM

i think i still have a voodoo2 laying around somewhere

5/1/2006 1:44:38 AM

^^ are those two cards with daughter cards 2d cards+ seperate 3d accelerator cards? I remember those back in the day. it was a big deal when they started making them 2d+3d on the same card and actually decent at the same time.

So are you going to throw some good old ultima 7 and wing commander on this beast? I considered reviving my old pentium 166 with it's xga graphics card + monster 3d accelerator just to play some of those old games. I was going to hook it into the vga port on my tv and basically use it as some sort nostalgic geeky gaming machine.

[Edited on May 1, 2006 at 6:16 AM. Reason : ]

5/1/2006 6:13:15 AM

Quote :

"So are you going to throw some good old ultima 7 and wing commander on this beast? "

The 11th Hour, Wing Commander, Tie Fighter, X-Wing, Rebel Assault, Fury3, Hellbender, Descent, Riven, Zork Nemesis & Grand Inquisitor and many others.

Quote :

" I was going to hook it into the vga port on my tv and basically use it as some sort nostalgic geeky gaming machine."

Yeah, that is pretty much the point. I already have a DVR set up on a Linux box (hidden away) and this machine would be on a KVM switch/different input. I want it to be easily accessible but hidden so that there isn't a separate computer laying around - it all just kindof integrates into the same visual/audio hardware.

5/1/2006 10:28:52 AM

I miss Carmageddon

5/1/2006 11:49:59 AM

I miss Carmageddon too

5/1/2006 11:52:59 AM

I wouldn't worry about Voodoo compatability. If you run in Win 3.1, just disable the card, and plug your monitor directly into your Matrox. Then when you load Windows '95, switch to using the pass through setup.

5/1/2006 2:49:08 PM

what is the point of all of this?

5/1/2006 3:05:39 PM

Quote :

"I wouldn't worry about Voodoo compatability. If you run in Win 3.1, just disable the card, and plug your monitor directly into your Matrox. Then when you load Windows '95, switch to using the pass through setup."

Not a bad idea; it will let me be a bit more flexible. I definitely think I am going with the Matrox card though for the primary GPU - they just seem like the best choice for what I am trying to do.

5/1/2006 3:42:25 PM